Consumers are at a serious negotiation disadvantage when they do not have information relevant to a specifically desired product or do not understand such information. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that complex, negotiated transactions can be difficult for consumers to understand due to a variety of factors, including interdependence between local demand and availability of products or product features, the point-in-time in the product lifecycle at which a transaction occurs, and the interrelationships of various transactions to one another. For example, a seller may sacrifice margin on one aspect of one transaction and recoup that margin from another transaction with the same (or a different) customer. Furthermore, currently available data for complex transactions is single dimensional. To illustrate with a specific example, a recommended price (e.g., $1,000) may not take into account how sensitive that price is (is $990 a good or bad price)? Recommended prices also become decreasingly accurate as the product, location, and availability of a particular product is defined with greater specificity. Additionally, dealers may use different pricing for the same product sold to different people, and as such do not publish this pricing to consumers.
These circumstances can be seen in a variety of contexts. In particular, the automotive transaction process may entail complexity of this type. This complexity is reflected in the lead generation tactics utilized in conjunction with the automotive transaction process, and in particular in the context of online automotive transactions. Traditionally, lead generation in the context of online automotive retail has been the primary way for dealers to find buyers for their vehicles. Lead generation is built around the premise that a consumer will give their personal details, which will be provided to dealers who will, in turn, provide a price for a desired vehicles. This model for lead generation has resulted in disappointment for both constituencies: dealers are reluctant to provide an upfront price to consumers as dealers prefer to have potential buyers visit the showroom instead and retain the ability to optimize their profit margin by charging different prices for the same vehicle depending on the buyer; conversely, dealers get low conversion on leads because they are typically harvested in duplicate or from websites which have no in-market traffic.
There are therefore a number of unmet desires when it comes to sales generation in the context of vehicle sales.